Three-story apartment complex proposed near new Chattanooga Lookouts stadium

Contributed rendering by PFVS Architects / A rendering shows a proposed three-story apartment building in the South Broad District.
Contributed rendering by PFVS Architects / A rendering shows a proposed three-story apartment building in the South Broad District.

A developer is proposing a new three-story apartment complex in the South Broad District, a few blocks from the site of the planned Chattanooga Lookouts stadium.

The complex, which would go on a 1.2-acre parcel at Williams and West 26th streets, would hold 63 apartments -- all one-bedroom, according to plans.

Brett Tabor of MAP Engineers said the units will range in size from 562 to 686 square feet, and he estimated the project at $7.5 million.

"They've done market studies of what would work well there," he said in a telephone interview.

The property is among tracts bought earlier by Chattanooga real estate developers Hiren Desai and Jimmy White. Desai and White several years ago bought some 49 parcels in the area.

According to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, a proposal to rezone the property is expected to go before the Planning Commission in November. The property owner is seeking to rezone the site to the newest urban general commercial zone.

Tabor said the apartments will mostly front Williams Street. He said the complex will have two smaller wings on 25th and 26th streets.

If the rezoning is approved by the Planning Commission and City Council, work on the project could begin next summer, Tabor said. That would put opening likely in 2024, he said.

Part of the block currently holds a church, which will stay, Tabor said. Plans call for private parking for the apartment dwellers. Also, there will be some shared parking for the church and guests of the apartment complex, Tabor said.

Earlier, Desai said in a telephone interview that a future four-story building nearby at Broad and 26th streets could hold possible housing, office, retail space or even a hotel. Desai is chief executive of Chattanooga-based hotel developer and operator 3H Group.

White has said more residential makes sense as downtown continues to expand outward on the Broad Street corridor.

"Look at what direction the city can grow," he said in a telephone interview.

The proposed apartment complex sits inside a 470-acre special tax district created by the city and Hamilton County to help fund the planned multiuse Lookouts stadium.

The district would allow the city and county to capture a portion of additional property tax revenue generated by new development to help pay down 30-year bonds for the stadium.

The district includes not just the 120 acres of developable U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry property where the stadium is to go, but the South Broad area around it. Also included are a number of tracts south of Chattanooga Creek, including a site for a proposed greenway connecting to Alton Park.

Earlier this year, a developer won approval to build a seven-story apartment complex close to the former foundry site. That plan by RFM Development Co. for land at 2378 Chestnut St. calls for 245 one- and two-bedroom apartments coupled with bottom floor commercial space on the property.

Groundbreaking for the proposed $79.4 million Lookouts stadium could take place in April, officials said in August.

Brent Goldberg, the city's chief financial officer, said that timeframe for breaking ground would allow for a planned April 2025 opening for the ballpark where the Lookouts owners would like to start the team's minor league baseball season that year.

Goldberg earlier told the newly created city-county Sports Authority panel that plans are to issue up to $80 million in bonds by the end of December to fund construction of the facility.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.


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